Jaguar’s Callum Ends Years of Dull Sedans With Cool $115,000 XJ

The front exterior of the Jaguar XJ. The car is long and lean, with a sleek modern design that still reflects the Jaguar tradition. Source: Jaguar via Bloomberg

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Parked on a pebbly shoulder, nose
pointed down a skinny country lane, the new Jaguar XJ hums
quietly in the sunshine.

I punch the dynamic sport button and the seatbelt gives a
sharp tug across my chest, tightening automatically. A jolting,
visceral signal between a promise and a threat. The car’s
talking, and my pulse actually responded.

Did I just get excited about a Jag?

While it once made gut-achingly cool cars like the XK120
and E-Type, Jaguar has long been merely a facsimile of fab.
Apologies to those who still regard it as the standard-bearer of
British cool, but average customers are Florida blue-hairs and
Long Island podiatrists.

That goes double for the last few generations of the XJ,
the fuddy-duddy sedan with roots extending from the mega-cool
Mark saloons.

And suddenly, this. My 2011 test XJL is incredibly long and
lean, skimmed in tuxedo black and outfitted with darkened rear
windows. A panoramic glass roof floats delicately above a
righteously solid body, architecture as much as car. Blessedly,
there are no shiny, cheesy bits muddling up the gorgeousness.

“Fast forward decades from the original 1968 XJ and this
is what you would have ended up with,” said Ian Callum,
Jaguar’s design director. “It’s all those years in between
where it got messed up.”

Outspoken Scot

The Scot, considered one of the world’s top car designers
(he also worked with Aston Martin), is known for being
outspoken.

Callum said his team stopped worrying so much about Jaguar
tradition and concentrated on a car they would like for
themselves. “Everyone’s got an opinion, but you know what? I
have a few opinions of my own,” he said.

It shows. The recent XKR sports car and XF sedan come
close, but the XJ earns a return to the “in” crowd. Expect to
find it parked outside hip restaurants from St. Moritz to Santa
Barbara, basking in that special valet sunshine.

It will be released this spring in the U.S, with prices
ranging from $72,500 to the special-order XJL Supersport for
$115,000. It comes with three engine variations and a short and
long wheelbase.

The longer wheelbase adds as little as $3,000 to the price
and weighs only fractionally more, with five inches of extra
rear legroom. I can see no reason for not choosing it.

Willing Hunter

The base 5.0-liter V-8 delivers an asphalt-rendering drive
which will shake loose any geriatric cobwebs. With 385
horsepower and a 0 to 60 mph charge of 5.4 seconds, it’s a
willing hunter.

I stalk lesser cars on the two-lane road, picking them off
like rabbits in the bush, one by one. Pop! Pop! Pop! Each
disappears into the great beyond of my rear-view.

A hungry thrust is what I expect from big throaty sedans
like the Maserati Quattroporte or BMW 7 Series, not a Jag. Your
average podiatrist won’t know what to do with these fleet feet.

If that’s not enough, there are two supercharged versions,
with 470 and 510 horses. The top-of-the-range Supersport will
churn to 60 in a time-warping 4.7 seconds, yet handles meekly
enough about town.

Steering is spot on, with the kind of quick turning ratio
you find in smaller cars. Moderate movements of the wheel get
big results.

Theater Seats

The interior is laid out like a sumptuous theater. The
curved dashboard sits low, like a stage, with a narrow band of
wood rimming the interior edge of the windshield. Callum
compares it to the inside bow of a yacht. I’ve never seen it on
another car, and it gives an extra layer of depth.

Playing to innovation over tradition, the XJ also has a new
digital display system with gauges that completely change or
disappear depending on driving mode and informational needs.
Definitely the wave of the future.

Fit and finish is excellent; the wood and leather are
luxury grade, encouraging repeated touching. Passengers will
like the rear seat legroom as much as the front, as the long
wheelbase model is infinitely chauffer worthy.

If there are shortcomings, it’s the front seats, which lack
the supreme bolstering of the Mercedes S-Class and the throne-like comfort of the BMW 7.

One aesthetic note: I suggest that Jag take a note from
Henry Ford and offer the XJ in any color, as long as it’s black.
The flat surfaces and overall structure look stunning in
midnight; less so in light tones.

Who’s gonna buy this car? The aforementioned blue-hairs are
always the obvious choice, but I think this XJ will drill down
to younger, hipper segments. Although bigger in stature, the XJ
feels sleeker and sexier than the XF sedan, and is nearly as hot
as the XK sports car.